Free Republic

"They say politics is show biz for the ugly. I didn't invent that phrase, but it's true. I mean, I don't care where the camera turned in the audience during Obama's speech the other night -- it looked like the Star Wars bar scene." (I agree on this. Our political class looked bloated and degenerate on my 720p TV receiving my local Fox outlet's over the air digital broadcast. They were clapping like fat seals at Sea World. Life is good for them in recessionless Washington DC. Degenerates like in Rome's latter days) "The dirty little secret is that every...

The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-union-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline. -Milton FriedmanWhen you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that...

Here is is my latest Quote. If we look beneath the surface of our public affairs, we can discern one fundamental fact, namely: a great redistribution of power between society[the individual] and State. He [the individual] has only a secondary or derived interest in matters like price-fixing, wage-fixing, inflation, political banking, "agricultural adjustment", and similar item of State policy that fill the pages of newspapers and the mouths of publicists and politicians. All these can be run up under one head. They have an immediate and temporary importance, and for this reason they monopolize public attention, but they all come...

Here is my latest quote. It occurred at the beginning of the end of state Sovereignty. I must first set the plate. After the War of 1812 the US was in debt, so it raised tariffs on imports. The tariffs weren't too extreme and a good deal of trade was occurring between England and the Southern States. The South supplied cotton to England and England manufactured products to the South. The Northern manufacturers could not compete on price with England, so they got the Tariffs of 1928 passed. These were called the "Abominations". This forced England to stop selling goods...

John Kennedy once said to a assembled group of scholars in the White House " I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." The quotes below could prove his point. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. -- Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who...

My latest Quote - Enjoy! I think the germ of disobedience is in our DNA. Who here doesn't feel a certain kinship with the rebellious spirit that tossed that tea into Boston Harbor? It's the same spirit that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that filled our streets with Vietnam War protesters. But let me warn you -- it ain't easy. Dr. King stood on a lot of balconies. The police dogs in Montgomery were vicious. The water cannons in Selma were painful. Modern versions of the same weapons of oppression exist...

In his Williamsburg speech, Obama also gave his most concise answer yet to the question of whether the stimulus bill will really stimulate the economy. His answer: if it's spending, it's stimulus. And if it's full of earmarks, well, stuff happens: THE PRESIDENT: Then there's the argument, well, this is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one. (Applause.) And when you start asking, well, what is it exactly that is such a problem that you're seeing, where's all this waste and...

We have only one guarantee in our Constitution, found in Article IV Section 4, which reads: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. How did this come about? Here are the notes from the Constitutional Convention concerning this matter: Resol. 16. [57] “That a Republican Constitution & its existing laws ought to be guarantied to each State by the U. States.” [58] Mr. Govr...

When you turn your heart and your life over to Christ, when you accept Christ as the savior, it changes your heart. George W. Bush After the chaos and carnage of September 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. George W. Bush America is a friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us. When these demands are met, the first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women and children. George W. Bush America is a Nation with a mission - and...

“What a day it was. It may take days or years to really absorb the significance of what happened to America today....When he [Barack Obama] finally emerged, he seemed, even in this throng, so solitary, somber, perhaps already feeling the weight of the world, even before he was transformed into the leader of the free world....The mass flickering of cell phone cameras on the mall seemed like stars shining back at him.” — NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on the January 20 Nightly News. After Eight Years of Bush, Finally Some Smart People in Charge “Brains are in the ascendancy now, absolutely....

US inaugurations: History in quotes Inaugurations give presidents a chance to address the nation, the world and history. Here are some highlights from past inaugural speeches. George Washington Thomas Jefferson James Madison Andrew Jackson Abraham Lincoln Theodore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson Franklin Roosevelt John F Kennedy Ronald Reagan George Washington: The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. The first US president also announced in the 1789 speech that he would accept...

Somehow we’ve managed to stumble through this most unforgettable of years. Here, in no particular order, are quotations I found interesting. Actor/singer Richard Harris showed up this year in the Harry Potter movie. Some may not recall Mr. Harris’ singing career, but he did in fact rack up a huge hit in 1968 with "MacArthur Park." This was a genuine accomplishment because there were at least two strikes against it from the start. The first was the song’s lyrics made no sense – "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark, All the sweet, green icing flowing down. Someone left the ...

Founders Quote Daily "There exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained." --George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on...

"Free people will set the course of history." George W. Bush "Never, never, never give up." Winston Churchill "Whatever you are, be a good one." Abraham Lincoln "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." Frederick Douglass "Fear is the passion of slaves." Patrick Henry "Liberty is the right and hope of all humanity." George W. Bush "Character, not circumstances, makes the man." Booker T. Washington "If you are going through hell, keep going." Winston Churchill "Freedom is the last, best hope of earth." Abraham Lincoln "Hope is no basis for a defense policy." Margaret Thatcher "If you want to lift...

George Washington – The Preservation of the Nation as a Whole Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers,...

Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation... Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. -- Federalist Papers, #46 at 243-244. Congress shall never disarm any citizen unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion. Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant. Whenever there is an interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done and not less readily by a...

40) "Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security." -- Obama foreign policy adviser Richard Danzig 39) "I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg." -- "Journalist" Chris Matthews 38) "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks." -- Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings on Sarah Palin 37) "That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair...

By Burt Prelutsky Today, while making my way through a supermarket parking lot, I nearly got clipped when I didn’t hear a car backing out from its space. I assume it was one of those silent hybrids. Once I got done thanking God for providing me with my cat-like reflexes, it occurred to me to wonder why every vehicle doesn’t come equipped with those back-up beepers one finds on trucks. That, in turn, reminded me that a friend recently informed me that she and her husband had just purchased a hybrid and that it ran as silent as a...

Looks like ABC News is starting out 2009 with a partisan bang. On its main page, ABC News is hosting a slide show featuring what it is calling the "All Time Dumb Quotes." Now, these are not all strictly political dumb quotes, to be sure. They also have the empty headed Christina Aguilera, that sharp as a tack Jessica Simpson and other denizens of the Hollywood Mensa club among the 16 featured quotes -- and some of them are doozies, too. But, there are six political quotes five by Republicans and one by Tina Fey making fun of a Republican...